Feast or Famine

Since the beginning of the year I have felt overwhelmed as if the Holidays never stopped. It has been busy in one way or another. I keep saying it has been either feast or famine and what was the Lord thinking? Didn't He say "All things in moderation"? Well, we all know that I do nothing in moderation and wouldn't even recognize it.

Yesterday after taking our new perfect pooch to his free vet visit (they give you a coupon when you adopt- super cool huh?) I was thinking how well this fit into my theory. In the last month of broken daddy, multiple MULTIPLE colds, and more than three weeks of someone throwing up, then surgery, -it just figured that the only one healthy, at that moment, in the whole family was our new dog!

Then, as with most things, I realized I needed an attitude adjustment. shocker.

I started thinking of the Feast of blessings that have been poured down on us.

Our family, our ward, and our neighbors have been amazing.

We have seen service and generosity that is, well...Christlike.

The calls, meals, time, taxi service, babysitting, dog gifts, awesome ice-pack, appliance repair-replace-delivery service, and even the understanding of others as I "drop the ball" for a while.

At one point I told my mother-in-law that after this was over we would have to check and see what lesson was to be learned from all of it.

Last week Alec learned to replace and aim my headlights and a new outdoor light, both boys learned to uninstall and reinstall a washer/dryer. They have become my handymen.

I have learned how amazing YOU all are! I have also learned how great my kids are. As hard as it has been,

it has sure been a FEAST of blessings!

Saturday was a Special Day

So...on Friday, Angelic and I escaped and decided to run away for a "dead mommy night". We knew we wanted to see a movie, didn't really care which one, and we HAD to eat at Kneaders.

The first show we attempted to go to was sold out, so we ended up at the late showing of Marley and Me

Oh my heck, what a cute movie! I laughed and cried! At one point in this movie about "the world's worst dog", I turned to Angelic and teased her about how this would make us both NEVER want a dog. I came home told my (still broken) hubby that he can never see it, because he would want this dog!

Then I proceed to cry every time I think about the dog, talk about the family, the movie...you get the idea-I am pathetic. The next morning it is still all I can think about.

So I looked online and then we went to the shelter and HE was there waiting for us!

We named him AUGUST. He is a 5 yr old yellow Labrador. He is completely trained and so tame! Brace yourself while I gush-on about this miracle of ours.

He sits on command

He can shake (hands & all over the bathroom when bathed)

He knows "lie down" and "stay"

He can rollover -but prefers not too

He doesn't bark

He doesn't jump on anyone or anything

He doesn't lick you unless it has been a while and you just need one kiss

He doesn't crotch sniff -eww (sorry but that is SOOO important)

He has never attempted to get on any furniture

He will only play with dog toys -ignores the princess stuffed animals and Barbies

He does not beg for food

He is totally house broken

He is sooooo affectionate, loves to be touched

He keeps his eye on my kids

He will heel to even the 6 yr old -and he weighs 92 lbs, if he wanted to go he could just drag her like a fancy tassle

He is fine with distractions, ignores other dogs

He talks with his big brown eyes

He lets the kids lay on him

He winks -no seriously- he does!

He can fetch a ball, stick, & frisbee! He just kept it a secret until today. I wonder what he will tell/show us tomorrow.

The people at the shelter are amazing. They knew him so well. He had been in a foster home and that helped us get a lot of info about how he behaved in a home and family. They are so careful to make sure that his needs will be understood and even introduced him to some of their cats (because we have 2 cats outside) to help make sure it was a good match. They don't make impulsive decisions -even if I do, kinda like checking with mom first.

I have always been a bit afraid of big dogs but August is a gentle giant, perfect for us. He rough houses with the teens and then sleeps on my feet. My daughter on the other hand has always preferred big dogs to any other animal. She will see full grown rottweilers and want to pet the "puppies". Marshall and I had always wanted to someday get a dog for the family that would be like my cousin Judy's dog, Ozzy. He has been our family's favorite dog till now. I hope we can keep our new family member as happy as Ozzy is.

The difference in our home is amazing! Last month was not great with no end in sight. The wear and tear was starting to show on all of us. Now we are all so happy to sit and talk about the dog, and the kids are playing together with him. No one wants to be away from him. Dogs really do have healing power. August is great for spending quiet time with each kid. He loves the attention and they all want him to love them the most. I am hoping that with Marshall's surgery ahead he can help me get the family through it. He seems good at staying by the daddy who is hurting and keeping the little ones busy so he can rest. I believe we were led to him at just the right time. We needed him even more than he needed us.

I don't know what we ever did without him.

Nope you can't have him, he is ours!

The Meanest Mom

There is a contest going on in my ward to determine which mom is the meanest mom. I have always felt that I win, hands-down. My children have always agreed.

The real judges are the kids. The more the youth get to know me, the more they get to know how strict my rules are. I am pretty sure I am the meanest.

We have had a crappy couple of weeks and between the broken daddy and off-and-on pukeiness, I have tried my best to resume some semblance of order and normalcy.

Well, today was one of "those days" and I was rewarded for it by getting a long, loving description of my meanness and tyranny described to me by a few of my " darling, blessings from heaven".

Evidently, I am (out of pure meanness) ruining lives, EVEN AS I TYPE THIS! When they were small and I would here, "Your mean!" I instantly translated it into an imaginary gold star and imagined it on my "I must be doing something right" forehead. Now that they are older and somewhat more descriptive, they can deliver some real whoppers and they know exactly which buttons to push.

To any other moms of teens, my advice is to remember that the epidural was for labor and the lamaze breathing is for while we are raising them. DEEP cleansing breath, in through the nose out through the mouth....

I did google "Meanest mom" and found this great blog

and fabulous letter written by Bobbie Pingaro (1967)

"The Meanest Mother"

I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different than the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did. My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less--not one hour and one minute. We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes herself, just to save money. Why, oh why, did we have to have a mother who made us feel different from our friends? The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept-my mother actually had the nerve to break the child-labor law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us. She always insisted upon us telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even if it killed us- and it nearly did. By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates and friends come to the door to get us. If I spent the night with a girlfriend, can you imagine she checked on me to see if I were really there. I never had the chance to elope to Mexico. That is if I'd had a boyfriend to elope with. I forgot to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old fashioned mother refused to let me date until the age of 15 and 16. Fifteen, that is, if you dated only to go to a school function. And that was maybe twice a year. Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school. If our friends had a toe ache, a hang nail or serious ailment, they could stay home from school. Our marks in school had to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks. As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out. My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested, divorced or beaten his mate. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right, our mean mother. Look at the things we missed. We never got to march in a protest parade, nor to take part in a riot, burn draft cards, and a million and one other things that our friends did. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my three children. I stand a little taller and I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Because, you see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest mother in the whole world.

written by Bobbie Pingaro (1967)

Attitude adjustment

Beginning Sunday morning, our week took an unexpected turn. After days of MRI's and EKG's and stress tests (his heart is fine, big sigh of relief) we now know that Marshall has a herniated disc in his neck. He has been in agony for 5 days now and already was in pain from an ankle awaiting surgery next week. I admit I have had more than a few low points in this LONG week. As the stomache flu chose this particular time to visit our family I began to feel like my family was cursed.

During one of my many LONG waits at one of the pharmacies, I saw how frustrated some of the people were getting and how that changed their behavior. I decided that I needed to change my attitude and start focusing on all of the MANY, MANY blessings all around me. I have been working on a list in my head, here are a few of them....

1. I am thankful for a doctor who is also a close friend, who shows concern and compassion.



2. I am thankful for family & neighbors who step right in when needed and most especially- listen.



3. I am thankful tostitos bags. They have proven themselves as excellent vomit bags and seem to always be handy in the car when vomiting while on the freeway.



4. I am thankful for health insurance.



5. I am thankful that my mother taught me to sew. In an emergency, in the middle of the night, a homemade heat pack can be accomplished.



6. I am thankful for children who can take care of each other. Who show love through service. Man, I am lucky!


7. I am thankful for GOOGLE. Without it, who would have any idea what the micro neurosurgeon was talking about!


8. I am thankful for Excedrin.

So many blessings. Too many to count.

Grouch

So Angelic tells me that the 16th is

"National Do a Grouch a Favor Day "

How fun is that!

I think of the grouches in my life and I am the biggest one!

YAY me I get to do me a favor on Monday!

Who will you do a favor for?

Oh, and this week is National Boy Scout week!

I love the Scouting program, they will never get me out of cub scouts.

Check out all of the fun stuff to celebrate here.

Sticky buns are definitely worth celebrating!!!

Divine

This evening while preparing my lesson for young women's tomorrow on -get this- our attitudes toward our divine roles as mothers and wives.
The Princess (who can't stand it that I am reading and not paying attention to her) says, "Mom, do I have a dimple?"
Me, "Yes, when you smile you have a little dimple."
Princess, "Mom, when you smile you have wrinkles."
sigh.
Oh I am feeling divine.

Pranksters

Explanation

Because Marshall is the youngest in his family and had no one to tease except his group of devoted friends, he really never got it out of his system.

So in our house there are always pranks and practical jokes being played.

They usually end in a tickle fight or a water fight, sometimes they are big enough to use the whole yard or even a good portion of the block! We DO know where all of our neighbors outdoor water faucets are AND the kids know how to turn off the water to our home inside and outside the house . Our Poor Neighbors!

This prank was aimed at Alec. It was placed outside his bedroom door to greet him in the dark. Surprise!

His daddy assembled it from the base of a kick boxing thingy, Savannah's coat held by a flag, a roll of paper towels for a head and a "Indiana" hat for the costume chest.

He was surprised.

The kids wanted to keep him, I wanted my paper towels back.

I just love living in a house full of boys!

It’s Great … except for the bad parts.

Can you spell HYPOCRITE?

I can.

This is what happens when you take a long hard look and and think to yourself...oh yeah, except for the bad parts.
Mind you I am talking pg-13 movies here but one side is all of the kids movies & church movies and the other is what is left of our movies.
So when your kids start asking if they can watch your shows and movies and the answer is always no because -you know, it have "those one parts", it really makes you stop and think two things.
#1 If they aren't good for them... why do we have them -are they good for me?
AND
#2 Who am I kidding, I have teenagers! If it is in the house, they are gonna watch it!

Catching Up

Santa Santa Santa!

The princess had a lot of visits from Santa's helpers this year.

This first Santa came knocking just after bedtime and she was fast asleep.

We yanked her out of bed and took pictures on the freezing doorstep. We almost forgot to take off her sleep mask that she sleeps with each night. The next day she thought that she dreamt the whole thing.

This Santa Came to visit after Christmas and just before we left for church on Sunday. He was heading back to the North Pole and wanted to say Hi and give the kids an quick treat. Thanks Santa! ~I did get a family photo but the teens have forbidden me from posting it.

This is Our favorite Santa and Savannah believes him to be

"The Real Guy"
He is also Grandpa.

Sawyer is his elf named "Maynard" he travels with him and helps him hand out gifts and also my dad finds that it helps kids approach Santa if he is working with a kid.

Just in case you haven't been PULLED into her room to see...

Savannah got a new princess bed for Christmas and she is so excited to show Everyone! (sometimes 2 or 3 times - brace yourself)

She and I had a slumber party already and it is quite nice.

New Year Party!!!!

Our New Year's eve is always spent with the whole Jackson clan at my parents home. We play games, eat junk food, and generally destroy our diets and the house.
This year at midnight the kids all set off Mentos and Diet Coke Rockets it was Awesome!
I love the frozen Coke snow.
On New Year's Day we all have a HUGE breakfast and the game start up again.
For lunch my brother, the rarely seen Shawn, made huge amounts of sushi for everyone.



Moment of silence for the sushi............
Ahhhh
Thank you.

We love Peter Mayer



We were able to attend our annual Peter Mayer concert this year.
Each year we take one of the older boys, both guitar players, to watch and meet Peter.
This was Joel's turn, he LOVED it!


Oh my heck, both of these pictures HAVE- the rarely seen SHAWN! weird!
One holding the adorable Henry and one wearing a top hat.

(Hats were a theme that night, it was a Jackson thing- few would understand)

The Snaggle Toothed Girl


She will let her teeth stay wiggly so long that they will practically change position entirely. I do not understand this at all!
I am used to boys who see a slightly wiggly tooth as a possible dollar sign and yank it way before it is ready-or-Joel who occasionally, through his "special rough playing ways" used to help his brothers along by knocking their loose teeth out for them. Ahh the joys of Joel- Anyway, back to snaggle-tooth girl. We tried and tried to get her to pull it out so she could sing the "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" song. But mainly, I was sure she was going to choke on it AND the gums were beginning to smell bad. As a special bonus, she looked like Nanny Mcphee!
I think that she just soaked up all of the attention, arggggh!
So finally her big brothers bribed her- yup we use bribes in our house and lots of them too- and she finally let me yank it with dental floss (our favorite way).


She told me, "Mom I am crying tears of joy!" (drama)

She was so relieved.

~Eadie And Savannah~

Cousins with toothless smiles.

Pink Christmas Gift

This is the darling ornament and earrings that my Pink sister, Stacey Sykes, sent to me.

She also sent me some TASTY red vines YUM!

However, they did not survive long enough to be photographed. To see what everybody got click HERE.

Grandma book pages

Each year we do a page of pictures for my mom for her "Grandma memory book" Lucky for me Angelic does all of my work for me!

My Pink gift came today!

My Pink Christmas gift came today from a lovely lady in Washington named Stacey Sykes.

My kids get just as excited about these swaps as I do (maybe even more) they loved it when our grouchy mail man brought a box to our door and, as they so cutely put it, "ding-dong ditched us" leaving us a gift that they have been watching and waiting for. So much fun! I have to say, I don't remember what I put in the sign-up about myself but Stacey somehow nailed it with the darling poky-dotty ribbon and that one teeny wee package! What a great opportunity to get to know other people and teach my children the joy of giving.

Thank you to Stacey for your thoughtfulness and time.I can't wait to open it on Christmas. My kids are making sure I don't peek (that is really hard!). We truly appreciate and enjoy each and every morsel of the fun as a family.

What Child IS THIS???

The Princess saw the partially shoveled sidewalks as a perfect opportunity to ride her bike!!!

Crazy girl. If they aren't shoveled enough, she grabs the big shovel and gets to work. It is a miracle she stayed upright. 20 degrees and I am frozen in the time it takes to stand outside to take my silly girl's picture.

Meet "BILLY BOB BARKER" the newest member of our family!

Sawyer gave him a "wet willy", very unpleasant even for a snowman.

Oh that reminds me of the new ridiculous rule at our house, no one is aloud to eat anybody else's snowman. They made this one together- I guess when the time comes, they can each eat half.
My silly kids will spend all day outside making sledding hills and various games in the COLD. No idea where the are getting it from but I am glad they are enjoying it!

JOY!

Pink Christmas on it's way!

My gift to my new "Pink Girlfriend" is on it's way!

I am so thankful to have been a part of this wonderful opportunity to be included with lots of other silly ladies and do just a little something for others in need.

I am so Thankful to my Father in Heaven for my family and for the Gospel in our lives. I am so touched that there are those out there that give sooo much time and energy and make it so FUN for us to enjoy doing service. What an incredible example they are. As I read these stories of the families that these benefits are set up for, I an so inspired by their strength. A strength that comes from a testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I am also now even more aware of my daily blessings all around me. Every moment with my children and wonderful husband is precious and I need to work harder to cherish them , not take one moment for granted and filter out the things that don't point us toward our Eternal goal.

This swap has been such a fun one. From sign up, to waiting for the pink envelope, planning, making, and sending the pink package.

Come what may & love it!

Joel needs a new mom.

After having his cast put on today, my first thought was...

I can decorate it! It is green, it works!

He is a very good sport.

(plus I bribed him)

At least we made the best of it. Right?

UPDATE

Just hours after posting about our ornaments, specifically Joel's......

"Some are custom made, like the monster in the leg cast for Joel (seriously this child can't stay out of a cast!)"

I find myself at kidscare with him and his wrist is broken!

Oh, and bad mommie moment of the day:

after he injured it (skating) and before we knew it was broken, we made him finish raking and cleaning the carport. nice huh?

Sigh.

Christmas Traditions!

Christmas decorating came early at our house. We have had our decorations up for a couple of weeks YAY! One of our family's favorite traditions is the ornaments. Every year each child gets an ornament that represents their past year. This started the year our oldest was born with the "Santa holding the baby ornament" and goes on still. They start trying to guess their ornament weeks before they get them & I start shopping months before Thanksgiving (Thanks Ebay). After all of the decorations are up, we put up the tree. The last thing is the ornaments. We all sit and unwrap each year's ornament and talk about the memories that go along with them. This year Joel got his Temple ornament ( a beautiful coin of Jordan River Temple), his year of attending to do baptisms. Alec got his guitar, which snaps into a case when not in use. Sawyer's skateboarder is even wearing a red baseball cap! The Giselle ornament is now the largest on the tree. It can also be a tree topper, the picture hardly does it justice.

We love these ornament so much and carefully choose them each year. Some are custom made, like the monster in the leg cast for Joel (seriously this child can't stay out of a cast!), and the monster in the tent from camp for Alec- for his first year at camp. These monster's teeth and eyes all glow in the dark.

Savannah's looks a little like a Disney collection- hee hee.

Some of my favorites of Sawyer's are his piano from last year that he made us photograph the tiny music and blow it up so that he could play it -and- his "Horton the Elephant & baby elephant bird", to me this says everything about my boy,

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant is faithful 100 percent".

We have an eagle for Alec from the year he achieved the rank of Eagle in Scouts and a sugar glider in a stocking for our animal loving Joel who couldn't forget our tiny pets.

As they grow up it occurs to me that they will take these ornaments to their homes and place them on their own trees. I will miss them, but I feel so blessed that they will have happy Christmas memories to take with them. Think of Savannah's poor hubby someday, with a tree full of Disney princesses and a huge Giselle on top! Oh it just makes me giggle! I pray that she will find a very special guy!

Because I have been given much, I too must give...

The benefit auction to help with medical expenses for little Josephine's family.

Click HERE to read their courageous and uplifting story.

Cick on the cute little picture of Josephine to go to the benefit blog.

Homeschool lesson today- voting

I wish there was a "WE voted today" picture.

I took the 3 ~at home~ kids. They learned about the voting process (disrupted/livened it up a bit), got stickers to proudly wear, saw a bunch of neighbors including our Stake President who works at the City bldg. The poll workers were cute with the kids and all of their questions and semi-quiet whispers didn't seem to bother anyone. I want to teach them that voting is important and worth my time. I want them to form their own opinions. I am so glad we voted early, it was a fun experience! YAY us!

Happy Halloween!

A friend and I got talking about adults dressing for Halloween, I had to pull this one out of Halloween past to share.

Ok, here is how it went down. A couple of years ago just a few days before Halloween, Marshall asks me to make him a costume because he wants to win a costume contest a work. So, anyone who knows me knows that I plan all holidays 4-6 months in advance. Mostly to avoid this very situation. So, with a little bit of evil in my heart, I agreed to make him a costume that would win as long as I got to choose it- no questions asked. He agreed. I went to Walmart for supplies, he went to bed and woke up the next morning to his Tooth Fairy costume. It was complete with a pouch full of chocolate coins (in case anyone had teeth for trading) and a tooth wand, wings, fluffy pink slippers, oh and a tiara! He wore it. He won.

He did say that he was a little nervous when he went into the men's room to change and then came out in a dress. Best part was walking behind him and watching his skirt swish!

I know what you are thinking.... but sorry ladies he is mine all mine!

Anything tastes good wrapped in carmel!

We made carmel apples for Mutual night with the Young Women and had such yummy, sticky fun that the kids and I decided to do it at home the next day. Baking, Cooking and Crafting with the youth can teach you a lot! These girls are super silly and super artistic. We couldn't wait to make our own. It was sooo much fun, we decided to make it a new tradition for our family.

We will make carmel apples once a week!

~just kidding~

Yes, in our house we all sit ON the counter while baking/preparing food.

You may want to consider this when eating at our counter next time you visit. ;>

Sawyer preferred to cover his in white chocolate, then crushed Oreo's

Savannah, well...you can see for yourself.

She doesn't eat them, so she puts a little bit of everything pretty on them.

If it is pretty, it will taste good, right?

Ta Da!

Our finished Apples!

Oh, and some darling witch hats we made with friends/fellow homeschoolers. They are cookies and ice cream cone, frosted in melted chocolate and the cone is full of candy. Yummm!

aren't they pretty?

Savannah could hardly wait to give hers away. She stalked our neighbors, until they took some apples from her. Creepy huh! Next year she should dress as the evil old lady from snow white.

Oh, by the way, any mommies out there want to take a guess on whether or not my daughter needed to potty in this picture? Arggh!

Easy Bake Par-tay!

The Little Princess had an easy bake birthday party this year. Aprons, pizza making, cousins, cake decorating, baking, presents, eating, licking fingers, giggling, friends...

They each easy baked their own pizza yummmm! They also decorated a tiny cake that they then boxed up, tied with a pretty ribbon to take home to show off their skills to daddy. Special thanks to Kimber the tallest of the "6 year old's", such a great sport. I hope she never realizes that you are a grown-up. You are, aren't you? Each cutie took home an apron and an Easy-Bake cookbook. It was the best party I've (I mean she's) ever had!

I loved when the girls were peeking into their ovens and watching the pizzas cook.

Pretty little easy bakes all in a row.